The Architect
by Serindeputy
Summary: Antonio Fernandez is a hard-working architect that is just trying to support his family. One day, he receives an important project for a church. Leaving his family he, goes to Italy, in hopes for more work. With his awkward attitude from his lonely past, Antonio has to socialize, because his job depends it. Spamano. Work AU
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Yo! GUESS WHAT?!**

 **I'M NOT DEAD/INACTIVE! This is a new spamano that needs some critique! That is…. If you ever found it… Anyways! I'm just here writing like an idiot, these two are just too cute together! Also, this isn't Christmasssy so sorry about that! and this is something I wrote awhile ago, I have a USUK on the way! This also isn't done, but because I'm on break NO EXAMS... I hate exams... So This is the first chapter of my new story! I hope you like and enjoy it!**

CH 1 News is Hard to Handle.

"You need to do this."

"I refuse to be away from my family for that long."

"It won't be as long as you think, just until the job is done."

"I can't."

"Come on, it will definitely raise your reputation; you might even become famous for it."

"As much as I would want that, I refuse to be away from my family for that long."

"You don't even know how long it will be! It could be finished in a few months!"

"You know it would take longer than that! Can't I just take my family with me?"

"It's on your money."

"But-"

"But you'll be famous!"

"Then what? I become famous, that's a certainty, so then what?"

"You get more jobs, more jobs mean more money, and more money means you can help your family."

"Are you sure? It's very expensive. For surgery, I mean."

"Positive."

"Fine. I'll take on the job."

Antonio walked out of his boss' office and immediately regretted accepting the job. He sighed, thinking about his new job. The job was in Italy, one country away from Spain. Starting to walk back home for the day, he thought about how he was supposed to tell the rest of his family. His father had cancer, and if it wasn't treated soon, he would eventually die. Nobody really talked about Antonio's father in fear of making Antonio unable to work. Antonio pulled his family's life together. They lived out in the country and owned a small tomato farm where Antonio worked endless hours, when he wasn't at his actual work.

Antonio is a rising architect and is slowly rising to fame. He doesn't care much for it,the fame, but he does love being an architect. The thought of having to leave his family for a year didn't sound too pleasant to him. How he was going to tell his mother and father, he had no clue.

It was a nice day outside for the turn of events Antonio had just found himself in. Even though he was sulking, the sun was setting. Antonio looked up just in time to see the colors of the sky. There was the sky. Close to the horizon was a gleaming ball of gold with a coral mixed in, and the rays seemed to be reaching out to him. The clouds were being painted a soft pink and yellow, like rose petal being thrown about, and above were the dark pinks, purples, and blues of the young night.

As Antonio watched the watched the sun, he wondered if there was anyone else who could see it. Somewhere else in the world. Maybe there was someone, who could see the same thing, Antonio certainly hoped so. He watched the sun finally go down, a soft breeze ruffling his hair; he smiled softly and walked the rest of the way home.

O~O~O~O~O~O

He faintly heard the sound of singing and the sizzle of a frying pan. Antonio walked into the familiar house, the smell of something being baked wafted through the air, pleasing him. Antonio smiled gently as he walked into the kitchen.

"Hello Antonio, how are you?" The sound of his mother came from the table. His mother loves anything old fashioned and handmade, their family didn't have much money, so Antonio had made the table a while ago, with his father, before he was diagnosed with cancer.

Antonio looked at his mother, "I'm fine. Just a little tired. Did you see the sunset?"

"No, I missed it, because I was too busy with making dinner." She said. "Why were you home later than normal?" She asked with a hint of suspicion.

Antonio laughed nervously, "I had a meeting with my boss. Turns out, actually, I suppose you could call it a promotion-"

"Really? That's great! Call your papa and tell him!" His mother cut him off excitedly.

"Well…" Antonio paused trying to think about how to go on, "It's not quite a promotion…. Wait." Antonio stopped again, "No, hold on."

His mother's eyes softened at his son's confusion and slight worry, "It is fine. Take your time." She said softly.

"Okay, so…I was at work and my boss had me go to a meeting. I don't really know how to say it without it being a shock. In the meeting, he told me I had a job," He took in a breath to mentally prepare himself, his voice slightly shaking, "i-it's a job in… in Italy." His mother said nothing; she just stared at him in shock. "I asked if I could bring you two, but my boss said it was on my money. And we don't have enough. I'm sorry, I tried my best."

Antonio was looking at the ground, shaking. His mother said nothing, but noticed his shaking. She stood up, and hugged him. They stayed like that for a while, mother and son. After a while she looked at him, "How about some dinner? I'm sure you're hungry."

Antonio just nodded, before realizing something else. Something extremely important, how could he have forgotten? He knew it wasn't going to be good if he didn't do it soon. "Mama?" He asked.

"Yes? What is it?" His mother asked softly.

"How am I going tell papa about this?" Antonio looked up at his mother, eyes flashing fear and worry.

"Just tell him, he'll understand. I'm sure." She said calmly.

"Right, then I'll go tomorrow and tell him. I'll go right before work. Thanks. I really appreciate it, mama." Antonio said with a smile, he was confident his father would understand.

O~O~O~O~O~O

Before he knew it, it was the next morning and Antonio was standing in front of the hospital door his father was in. Taking a deep breath and wishing himself good luck, he walked in. "Papa?" He poked his head in and saw that he wasn't moving, a wave of panic spread through him, until he noticed that his father was still breathing and relaxed. He was just asleep. It was good that Antonio's father was asleep; it gave him time to think about how to break the news to him.

Antonio's father woke up and gave a little jump to the new person in the room, but smiled anyway. "Hello Son! It's so nice to see you! What brings you here?"

"Well, I got some important news at work yesterday, so I came to visit and tell you about it." Antonio said as cheerfully as he could.

"Okay! Go on!" His father beckoned him with a smile.

"Right, so yesterday my boss and I talked about this new job I got and, well you see…." Antonio yet again paused like last night. "This job is…" He took a deep breath in, "It's in Italy. I'm really sorry. I'll be away for a whole year, and there's not much I can do about it."

Antonio's father looked at him, and laughed. It wasn't a mean laugh; it was a soft laugh meaning he understood, "No need to make a big fuss over it! It's no big deal, your mama and I will be fine!"

Antonio looked up, and his face brightened, "Really? You mean it? You're not mad or anything? That's great!"

"Yes, yes. I'm not mad. This is something that not many people can enjoy!" His fathers paused, and looked at him seriously, "But… make sure you send us letters every day." His voice lightened at the end.

Antonio laughed lightly, "Of course!" He checked his watch, "Anyways, I have to leave; I have work to go to."

"I'll see you later, son." His father said happily.

"Same to you!" Antonio called before briskly walking out the door, heading to work. It was nice out, other than the fact of the cold breeze that came to him like a slap in the face as he walked outside from the hospital. There was a nice shortcut from the hospital to his workplace that went through the park, spring was coming, Antonio could tell by how light the air was. It was too bad he was going to miss spring in Spain; he's going to be in Italy.

O~O~O~O~O~O

Upon arriving at his office there was a message telling him to go to his boss' office. He knocked on the door hearing a slight "come in" and walking in. His boss was there with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Ah. Mr. Fernandez! Come in, come in." His boss seemed to be extremely happy about something.

"Hello." Antonio said stiffly.

"So here's the deal, for your job in Italy, your client wants you there as soon as possible. He is an impatient man. So you'll be leaving for Italy in three days." His boss held up three fingers. "I will be escorting you to the airport. Also, I might have forgotten to mention this, but the client was kind enough to let you stay in his hotel. Enjoy yourself there; it's a five star hotel. The client, his name is Nicodemo Cuevas, will escort you through Italy to where you need to go. However, he will only be free to show you around on the first day, so be prepared. That is all, you are dismissed."

Antonio just nodded and walked out the door. He needed the day off. Antonio walked over to a bench in a nearby park and sat down letting everything sink in. He started to shake, he place his head in his hands. He thought about more news, ...not more news. New is hard to handle.

 _To be continued._


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hey! This is chapter 2! (obviously) Just here to say hi! Hopefully, I'll be writing about a little something something on ice! *hint*. Hopefully, it's not confirmed, but hopefully I can pull a quick thing together!**

CH 2 Distances.

It was the day before Antonio would leave for Italy, his co-workers and family was deciding to throw him a going away party. He wasn't too excited; he never liked big parties all too much anyway. It was a stereotypical party, and Antonio did have some fun, but he hadn't seen his father yet. Antonio deliberately hadn't told his father that he was leaving tomorrow.

His mother hadn't known that Antonio hadn't told his father. Antonio wasn't sure how she found out, but she did, and she was angry. She pulled him to the side, "Antonio?" She glared at him.

Flinching, Antonio almost knew what this was about, "Yes, mama?"

"Why haven't you told your father when you're leaving?" She asked harshly.

"Because-"

She sighed cutting him off, "You know what, its fine. I don't want to get mad at you right before you leave. Just go tell him. Now."

Antonio nodded, "Right. I'll go now."

"Hurry, visitor's hours are almost over." She gave him a soft smile.

Antonio said nothing else, but instead ran. He ran as fast as he could, it would be the last time he would see his father for another year, he might as well say goodbye. He rushed through the hospital just in time to give him five minutes with his father.

"Papa!" Antonio yelled. He didn't mean to yell, but it just came out like that.

Antonio's dad was reading, and looked up from his book, "Yes?"

Antonio panicked a little, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to not tell you! I-I just I really wanted to… wait no, that's not what I wanted to say." Antonio was shaking, he was so scared and frantic, and he didn't realize it. "I just… I'm leaving for Italy… tomorrow. I'm sorry! I didn't tell you sooner!" He felt tears prick at his eyes, "I don't want to leave you or mama. I'm sorry."

All his father did was exactly what his mother did; he pulled Antonio into a big hug, one that only fathers can give. "You'll be fine. I promise." Antonio's father looked up to see a nurse at the doorway. The visiting hours were over, but she said nothing.

"I-I'm scared. I've never been out of the country. I don't know what it will be like! I don't want to leave you and mama to go somewhere so unfamiliar! I… I love you guys!" Antonio's voice cracked at the end.

His father continued to hug him, "Stop acting like such an emotional teenage girl. You're a grown man; you should be excited and happy to leave. Besides, it's only a year, what harm will that do? You can always come back after."

Antonio let out a small laugh, "Yeah, you're right. I should be excited to explore the world. I'll tell you everything I learn there."

"That's the spirit. I'll miss you, you know. Write when you can, okay?" His father asked sadly.

"I will, for sure. I really do love you. _Te quiero, papa._ "

"Same to you." His father said before Antonio walked out.

Antonio silently walked out of the room, a bittersweet aura surrounding him. He walked back to his for an, certainly, interesting day tomorrow. There was a soft breeze as he looked at the now dark, starry sky. The whole scene seemed too bittersweet, but it was calming at the least. He walked home and went straight to his room, where he promptly fell asleep.

Antonio woke up to his mother yelling at him to get up. "Sorry, mama." He said sitting up yawning. He checked the time. It was late, late enough for him to possibly miss his flight. His eyes widened and he scrambled out of bed to get dressed enough to make himself presentable, threw on some shoes, grabbed his suitcases, he had two large ones, and run to the door.

"Antonio! Don't you dare walk through that door without saying goodbye!" his mother yelled rushing towards him.

"Of course not!" Antonio said laughing, giving his mother a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll definitely miss you! I'll be back in a year, I promise."

"Please remember to write! I'll be ever so lonely without you!" His mother said before letting go of him.

"Right. Well then, bye." Antonio said suddenly growing sad. He started to walk out of the house and towards his boss' car. As he opened the door he was greeted with good morning, and then they were off to the airport. Antonio was told it wasn't a long flight, just about three hours at the most.

After almost being late, Antonio had safely made it on the plane and was now waiting for it to take off. He sat by the window, and because it was so early, and he was riding business class, it wasn't too crowded. The plane took off and he watched his country disappear for the next hour. It was pretty quiet, Antonio even got to watch the sun rise.

They apparently had an amateur pilot flying the plane this time around, so the landing was extremely bumpy, not that Antonio minded. He was too busy thinking about his client that is supposed to pick him up and take him to the hotel. As he got off the plane and into the airport, he was overwhelmed by the unfamiliar people and scents and voices.

He spotted a sign with his name printed on it, looked up to see a very _very_ tall man holding it. Antonio walked over to him, "Are you Mr. Cuevas by chance?" He asked.

The tall man looked down at him and laughed slightly, "But of course! I'm Nicodemo Cuevas, but you can just really call me Nico! Are you Antonio Fernandez?"

Antonio just nodded. Nico gave a hearty laugh before gesturing for Antonio to follow him. They walked to the suitcase pick up and got Antonio's two suitcases. Afterwards Nico hailed a taxi and loaded the two suitcases.

"Pay close attention. I'm going to tell you where to go and what to do for the year." He paused to tell the taxi where to go, "So anywhere in a ten mile radius of the hotel is fine. Try not to go too far south in this city. Things can get messy. Up north I where I've found to be some of the best bars around. So if ya need a drink or to there are a couple of places up north. Your workplace will be at the penthouse I'm having you stay in, and when there are meeting thy will be at Archi Co. Simple enough, right?"

Antonio was too overwhelmed to really know what was going on, and couldn't really speak, so he just simply nodded his head in affirmation. The two were about five minutes away from the hotel and the taxi abruptly stopped causing the two men to jolt in their seats. They had stopped right in front of a crosswalk. Antonio noticed a man had started to yell something in Italian. It didn't sound like he was being too friendly, but Antonio didn't care too much about it. He was distracted by the man himself. He was a beautiful person, was he famous? Antonio wondered this as he stared at him. He was such a beautiful person to Antonio, even if he was really ticked off.

Then Antonio noticed something strange coming off of the angry man's hair. He couldn't figure it out, watching him as the angry man started walking off and the car started moving. Antonio kept staring at the man before the angry man made eye contact with him. Antonio panicked a little and quickly looked down.

"Don't mind him; he was probably just having a bad day." Nico said.

"Do you know him?" Antonio asked, finding that he wanted to know more about this man.

"No, you could just tell by how angry he was." Nico said casually.

"What if he's just grumpy and angry all the time?" Antonio asked.

"I suppose that's a possibility." Nico finished before silence captured the rest of the taxi ride. "Here's the hotel you're staying in for the next year. You can choose either the top or second to the top floor."

"I'll go with the top." Antonio said quietly not paying too much attention to his surroundings, thinking about that angry man. Nico gave Antonio a key and got Antonio's suitcases out of the taxi.

"There's a meeting tomorrow, you know where to go, have a nice night!" Nico called as Antonio watched the taxi disappear into the streets.

Antonio walked to the penthouse and opened the door, finally realizing where he was and what was going on. He closed the door behind him and sunk to the floor, realizing the distance between him and his parents.

 _To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey! Happy Holidays to all! Hope you're having a good one! Mine's been, strange to say the least, but good overall. Sorry for the mixup! I feel like this happens too often! Here's the actual Chapter 3! Sorry! Enjoy, and feel free to critique/comment!**

CH 3 First Impressions.

Antonio walked around his new home taking in everything. It was a lot though, four bathrooms, six bedrooms, two kitchens, three living rooms, and many separate rooms he couldn't identify. He, with much difficulty, hauled the two suitcases up the stairs and chose the bedroom he liked the best. Not really knowing what to do, Antonio decided to go ahead and write a letter to his parents.

Looking at the finished letter, Antonio wondered if it was good enough, not much really happened today, so he thought it was enough. Antonio slid the letter into an envelope and set it down. There was still light outside, so Antonio thought he would go exploring for a while.

Once outside, Antonio felt hopeless, he couldn't really read any of the signs. He could figure out, or at least guess, some of the words, because Spanish and Italian were so similar. He started to walk down a busy street, looking for a park of some sort. Walking around the bustling people, he noticed a small café that seemed not a ton of people were at. He walked in, and noticed a familiar scent. It reminded him of home. He reminded himself to go there again sometime.

Antonio eventually found a park not far off from the café. It was a beautiful park, and he was just taking a walk around. It was a small park to say the least, but it would relax him. As he was walking he heard a commotion going on a little bit ahead of him, it sounded like yelling. Wanting to take a closer look, Antonio walked towards the sound with caution. The wind started to pick up around him, and Antonio saw the man, the angry man. Except this time, he was being yelled at by an old woman and two police officers. The angry man seemed embarrassed, and looked like he was going to bite the old woman's head off.

Up close, the angry man was ever more beautiful, to say the least. Antonio saw that the angry man had shimmering hazel eyes that seemed to be lighted with energy. The way the wind gently ruffled his soft looking brown, on the verge of ginger, hair. He noticed something strange, it seemed almost impossible, a strand of hair stuck straight out and curved into a perfect swirl. The man looked skinny, but not enough to be weak. On the contrary, the man looked strong. Antonio was mesmerized by him as a whole.

Antonio watched what was going on and heard most everything. Apparently, the angry man had tried to steal money via pick pocketing. The police officers let him off the hook with just a warning and the old woman smacked the angry man and stomped off. The police officers gave a glare and walked away too. That left the angry man by himself. He looked angry and embarrassed, but also kind of depressed. The angry man sat down and clutched his stomach like it hurt.

Feeling brave, Antonio walked up to the angry man and stood in front of him, the angry man didn't notice Antonio's presence, "Hey. You seem…." Antonio paused to think of the right word, "upset."

The angry man looked up at Antonio, "So what's it to you that I am?" He grumbled.

"I thought maybe you were hungry, perhaps?" Antonio gestured to the angry man's arms clutching his stomach.

"Yeah, and?" He growled.

"Maybe you don't have enough money to get yourself something, so I'll pay for you. Come on." Antonio said smiling. He had always loved helping others out, and he was also happy to be talking to the man he saw.

"I don't even know you. Why in hell would I?" The man growled and glared at Antonio.

"I'm Antonio. See now you know me." Antonio said trying his best to persuade him to come.

"It's still a no." He said blatantly.

Antonio turned around, "Alright, but the offer's still up." He smirked.

The man hesitated before standing up, "Alright, fine. Since you're paying. I'm Lovino."

"Nice to meet you Lovino." Antonio was ecstatic on the inside to finally meet the angry man named Lovino. It had a nice ring to it, Lovino, he liked the name and it seemed to fit him well. He also had a nice voice, it might sound a bit grumpy, but Antonio didn't mind.

"So where are we going?"

Antonio was cut out of his thoughts and realized he doesn't know where to take Lovino. He about maybe taking him to the café he found, but he hadn't tried anything from there, so he crossed that off the list. Antonio laughed nervously, "I- well you see… I'm actually new in this town; well country," Antonio spoke the last part soft enough so Lovino didn't hear, "and I don't really know where anything is. Mind if you show me around? Or at least take me to a restaurant or café?"

"Are you serious?! You don't even know anything around here?! Why in hell did I even go with you idiot?" Lovino groaned in annoyance.

"I'm still paying." Antonio said cautiously.

"You know what, fine. You're Spanish right? Yeah. I know a good café near here. Follow me." Lovino started walking without saying another word. There was an annoyed aura surrounding him, so Antonio didn't dare say a word.

Hanging his head down in shame, he walked behind Lovino, feeling depressed. "Sorry." Antonio mumbled.

"What?" Lovino snapped back.

"I said I'm sorry. I just wanted to be friends with you, that's all. Sorry for making you mad." Antonio mumbled, tripping over his words slightly.

"Whatever, it's fine. It's not like I care." Lovino said with a low, almost unnoticeable, growl.

"Here. You can have this." Antonio shoved some cash into Lovino's hand. "It's getting late so I need to leave. Bye, Lovino." Antonio said with no enthusiasm or happiness.

Antonio started to trudge himself all the way back to his home, the penthouse, feeling heavy in the chest. He didn't understand why he felt it, but it hurt. The pain only grew the closer he got home. Antonio went straight to bed that night, even though he couldn't really sleep. He tried thinking of something other than Lovino. He tried thinking about home, or about the meeting tomorrow. But nothing could really distract him from Lovino. To him, Lovino was such an interesting character. Full of many different things he hadn't experienced. He wondered what kind of job a man like that would have and soon enough his thoughts lulled him to sleep, waiting for the early awakening tomorrow.

…

He woke up earlier than expected and only finding he got a few hours of sleep, Antonio walked to the large kitchen to make himself a pot of coffee before rushing out the door. The company wasn't too far from his home, a couple of blocks away. As he entered he noticed everything in the building was high quality. It must have been a big company with a lot of money. He walked up to the receptionist to ask where to go.

"Hi." The receptionist greeted him with a lovely smile.

"Good morning. I was hoping you could tell me where my meeting is being held." The Spaniard spoke smoothly, almost flirtatiously, flashing a smile.

"Name?" She asked.

"Antonio. Antonio Fernández."

"Your meeting is on the third floor, take the elevator and it should be the door to the left."

"Thank you!" Antonio flashed another smile before walking towards the elevator. Pressing the button for the third floor, Antonio straightened himself a little. He couldn't help but flirt a little; it got certain people off his mind. As the door was about to be fully closed, two men came rushing through and stopped the door from closing. There was a blonde and…. Well Antonio couldn't quite figure it out. His hair looked white, almost silver and was certain the man dyed it.

"Hold the door!" The blonde man shouted with a heavy French accent.

"No way, man!" The silver haired man shouted back laughing, spamming the "close door" button.

The French man had made it just in time and slid into the elevator. "Phew. That was a close one, no thanks to _someone_." He glared at the white-haired man.

"No, I don't think that's it. I was just too awesome to let you in." The white-haired man now had a clear German accent, and a large ego.

"Oh? Looks like we forgot to introduce ourselves! I'm sorry please forgive us! I'm Francis Bonnefoy! And this here is Gilbert Beilschmidt. And you are?" The man, Francis, was over exaggerated and very animated.

"I'm Antonio Fernandez Carriedo." Antonio said awkwardly. "Um not to be rude or anything, but did you," Antonio pointed to Gilbert, "dye your hair?"

"Of course not! I'm way too awesome for that!" Gilbert responded.

"Are you on the new Consultant team? For the church?" Francis asked.

"It's a church? Well, sort of. I'm the lead architect for this project." Antonio answered.

The doors of the elevator opened and the three walked out and towards the meeting room. "Good. Because I'm you consultant and Gilbert is the lead designer."

Antonio didn't know what to think about those two, they had colorful personalities, to say the least. Antonio also didn't know what he was getting himself into, and frankly, he didn't want to know. Antonio slowly opened the door to his first meeting about the whole reason as to why he was in Italy.

 _To be continued._


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hi! This is the last pre-written chapter I have right now. I don't know if I will be able to write anymore of this one anytime soon, but we'll see. Enjoy!**

CH 4 Friends

As Antonio looked in, he was shocked that there were only a few other people in the room. Maybe it was the wrong room. His doubt was answered when he saw Nico sitting at a desk in the back of the room. There were only five other people in the room. They were all older than Antonio and the other two he met.

"Good. You're here! We can finally start. Have a seat." Nico gestured to one of the chairs in front of the desk. Antonio noticed a few pictures and a packet of information, probably for the project, he flipped through the pages while listening to what Nico had to say. "Some of you know this, but I will be helping all of you throughout this project. I will have to approve of everything. Everyone here will have an intern and a small team to help you out. As some of you know, we are all trying to build a cathedral in the center of town. It's not going to be huge, but more on the small side. The rest should be explained in your packets." Nico droned on for the next hour on the project. Antonio had already read through the packet, so he had been over everything. Everyone introduced themselves, nothing too interesting.

 ****

After the meeting Antonio was face to face with Francis and Gilbert, "Hey! Want to go out for a few drinks later tonight?"

They both seemed friendly enough, and he was working with them for the next year, "Sure, but mind telling me which place? I kind of arrived here from Spain yesterday."

"Sure thing! It's called Sole Estivo, here's a map that has some directions on it." Gilbert said handing Antonio a hand drawn map with scribbles all over it. Antonio could barely read it, but accepted it anyway.

After watching Gilbert walking away Francis walked up to Antonio, "It's okay if you don't understand the map, all you really need to do is walk straight for about two blocks and take a left and the immediate right, walk for a while more and you'll be there. Meet us there around nine." Francis gave him a soft smile before heading out.

... ... ... ...

Heading over to the bar, Francis' directions were not very reliable. Antonio had gotten lost three other times. He tried again, and managed to get there by wandering aimlessly. He noticed the place was a little under-shape, but it didn't bother him too much. Antonio kind of liked it, the old fashioned style. He walked in and was greeted with the pungent smell of beer and joyous laughs. He wasn't sure why everyone was so happy. Usually in Spain, the bars were much more low-key. Antonio would have rather a quieter place, but after a few shots he thought he'd get used to it.

"Oi! Antonio! Over here!" The voice came from his German co-worker. He was with Francis and an alarming amount of women were crowding the both of them. Antonio wasn't sure what to do, but walked over to the two of them.

"You guys okay at all?" Antonio asked cautiously before having a large beer shoved in his hand.

"Of course we're fine! Why wouldn't we? We have all these beautiful women to give us a good time!" The women around Francis giggled.

"Ok then. I'll be over here." Antonio mentioned rather awkwardly, walking away.

"No! Don't be shy! At least let me keep you company! Come on!" A rather cute, drunk girl walked up to Antonio clinging onto him.

Antonio caved, "Alright. I might as well join in on the fun." He smiled and relaxed, he could at least have fun for now.

... ... ... ...

It was almost midnight and Antonio was actually having fun. He had one to many to drink, but he was still sober enough to drive, he was just a little wobbly on his feet. Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio had really gotten to know each other over the course of a few hours. Noticing the time, almost two in the morning, he thought he should go ahead and leave.

"Oi. You two, I'm off. I'll see you tomorr- er... Later today. Bye!" Antonio called leaving through the back entrance.

Antonio yawned and wobbled over to the wall, well... ran into the wall and groaned in pain.

"You seem a little upset, need some help?" A familiar voice came from the shadows. The voice was breathing heavily, almost as if he had just went for a run.

"Wha-? Oh! It's you, Lovino! How are ya?" Antonio asked, with a slight slur in his words.

Lovino laughed and came out of the shadows, and stumbled, falling against the wall, still breathing heavily and closing his eyes. "Had too much to drink?"

Antonio just tripped in response.

"Suppose we all got those kinds of nights. Where's your home?"

Antonio just nodded understanding. With the help of Antonio, Lovino had his arm around Antonio's waist and Antonio's arm around Lovino's shoulders. Antonio hadn't realized how broad Lovino's shoulders were until now. He also didn't understand why Lovino was being so nice to him.

"Well? I kind of need to know." Lovino interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh right..." Antonio sighed and thought about where he lived. "The hotel closest to here. This direction." Antonio pointed to the direction of his new home. The two started walking in the direction of the hotel. Antonio refused to have silence between them, but was nervous to talk because of the last time they had met.

"So..."

"Hey."

They both talked at the same time and then stopped. Antonio realized how ridiculous the whole scene was and burst out in a light laughter.

"What are you laughing at?" Lovino asked menacingly.

"Oh... nothing really." Antonio said through his laughs.

Antonio could see the tiniest bit of red on Lovino's ears; to him it was adorable, "Whatever. So why were you at the bar? I wouldn't expect someone like you to be there."

"Actually I was there with some co-workers for my job. It's the whole reason why I'm here really." Antonio said looking at the sky. He had always admired the stars, but here they seemed to shine.

"What's your job?" Lovino asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Ah. It's architecture. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you, but we're working on a cathedral."

Lovino's eyes widened a little, but it was barely enough to notice. The two continued walking in silence, Antonio looking up at the stars and Lovino watching him. "You like the stars?" Lovino asked flatly.

"Mmm. Yeah, you could say that. It's true, I like the stars, but there's something that the stars remind me of."

"Yeah, what?" Lovino asked before realizing that they were standing in front of the hotel. "Never mind. This is the place right?" Antonio nodded, "Well, see you later then." Lovino started to walking away, releasing his grip on Antonio's waist.

Antonio desperately wanted him to stay, but felt like he shouldn't force Lovino. "Wait!" Antonio called out. Lovino turned around and stopped, "I was wondering, why are you being nice to me? I-I mean you seemed angry the first time we met. So I was... just wondering."

Lovino face turned red, "I just... think of it this way..." He paused, trying to find the right words, "Thanks." Lovino's face calmed to a dark pink, but his voice was immensely quieter.

Antonio just smiled, "Goodnight, Lovino." And he walked back to his room with a large smile on his face. At least he made some friends.

 _To Be Continued._


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: PLEASE READ: Hey! I haven't written in a while so do you guys think this chapter is alright? The first few paragraphs are a bit awkward because I haven't done any writing for a while so I was wondering if it's okay. Also, IT'S ABOUT TIME I UPDATE! Seriously, it's bad. I've mapped out the next few chapters, now all I really have to do is write them… That's all, have a nice day/night, stay amazing, and Enjoy!**

Chapter 5: The Apprentices

Finishing up a letter to home, Antonio folded it and carefully placed it in the envelope. Walking into his kitchen he found some coffee grounds waiting for him in a cabinet. Using his opportunity, the brunette hastily made coffee and got dressed for another meeting today.

Antonio was specifically tired this morning because of the slight headache that had set in from either being tipsy or from when he hit his head from almost falling asleep on his desk. After what had happened last night with Lovino he couldn't stop _thinking_ \- about anything and everything- his mind was racing.

Yawing, he took a few steps outside and noticed the peculiarly nice weather, and smile a bit. Spring was nicely settling in in Italy. The breeze gently tousled his bed-head and sweeped past his clothes, releasing the headache for the moment. Realizing he forgot to fix his "bed head" he froze in his tracks and looked at himself from the shop window. The Spain was a disheveled mess; hair sticking out in odd places, loose tie, unbuttoned shirt. Antonio did his best to fix himself before continuing on his way.

Antonio had gotten news that today was specifically important to show up at the company instead of working at home. He was supposed to be meeting his apprentice. The apprentices were a handful of college students that had been interviewed for the job. He was a little excited to meet these people. Antonio wondered what they would be like; hopefully nice.

Antonio believed that Nico said something about a younger cousin… Antonio personally didn't have many extended family he knew well and didn't know about any of his coworkers.

Smiling at the receptionist, the brunette walked into the elevator and pushed the button that corresponded to the floor of the meeting. A few others got in while the green-eyed man waited to get to the floor. Most of them were young, and seemed to be going to the same floor as him.

Reaching the floor, he heard a loud, familiar voice arguing with another. It didn't seem like an actual argument, more of a playful banter type of argument. As the Spanish man walked into the room, he pleasantly found Gilbert there talking to someone. The other person was flushed red in anger.

"¡Hola! How are you guys doing today?" Antonio interrupted their conversation with a large smile.

"Huh?" Gilbert looked toward the brunette, "Oh. Hey Toni! I'm great, I just met the little squirt that'll be under my wing." Gilbert's face turned from a pleasant one, to narcissistical in a split second. He roughly pat the blonde apprentice's head who only gave a grumpy growl and crossed his arms. "Kesesese~ This kid here is Arthur; he came all the way from Britain." The smug grin on the German's face only made the Brit's frown deepen.

"Now listen he-" The blonde started.

"Have you met your apprentice?" Gilbert ignored the apprentice.

"No, I just got here. I think it's…" Antonio stopped to look at his information packet, "Someone named Matthew? Matthew Williams?" He said the name slightly louder hoping to get the attention of the named person.

"O-Oh. Th-That's… me." A quiet and calm voice called out from behind Gilbert looking at the Spain.

"Hmm? You're Matthew Williams?" Antonio looked past Gilbert and Arthur in the direction of a younger blonde man. Quickly deciding he seemed nice enough he responded, "It's nice to meet you." Antonio said with a smile.

The blonde named Matthew smiled brightly and responded, "Yeah! I-I-It c-cert-t-tanly is!" The poor man seemed to have an unruly stutter.

"What's with this kid? He's pathetic!" Gilbert teased and laughed.

Matthew's face fell. "I'm sure he doesn't really mean it." Antonio said with a comforting tone.

"Look, just because you're my shitty cousin doesn't mean we should automatically be partnered up! This whole system is bullshit." The familiar voice rang out in loud bursts with an intimation of a terrified sound.

"Oh come on now! Don't be so harsh to your older cousin!" Francis' voice sounded.

"Get off me you pervy douchebag!" The voice was so familiar to Antonio, but he couldn't quite figure out who it was, so he started strolling over to the two people.

As he expected Francis was there struggling to hug his "cousin"; however, he was not expecting who his "cousin" was, "Lovino? What are you doing here? I didn't know you were an architect, let alone Francis' cousin?!" Antonio exclaimed. Deep inside, the Spanish brunette was really happy. Happy that his friend would be working as an apprentice close to him; however, those feeling hadn't quite reached his brain, for the shock was too great.

Lovino stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and what almost seemed to be scared, "Y-You. This is the project…. that you… you're working on?" His voice was quiet and he lowered his head.

"Yes? I already told you about it, didn't I?" Antonio asked carefully.

Meanwhile, Francis, Gilbert, Arthur, and Matthew were watching quietly, seemingly confused.

Being more confused than before, the Italian's face turned red as he screamed, "THIS DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"

"Calm down, we all just happen to be working at the same company for this project. No need to be so hot headed." Gilbert spoke up.

Lovino stood there for a second, hair hanging low over his eyes ever so slightly, face redder than before, saying "Yeah, whatever. I didn't ask for your stupid opinion, I'm going to the meeting." He looked up for a second and made eye contact with Antonio's shocked face before shooting his head back down. "You. Explain this later." He mumbled as he walked into the meeting room.

Antonio didn't quite get what he said, so he just awkwardly stood in the hallway. "So, umm… Francis… you said that was your cousin, right?"

"Oh! Yes, he is. As much of a pain in the ass as he can be, he's still kind of cute when he's embarrassed." Francis replied with a grin of a dirty mind and perverted thoughts.

"Thanks for that information. _Really_ needed that." Gilbert said sarcastically starting to walk towards the door with his hands resting on the back of his head. "Blondie let's go."

"I have a name yo-" Arthur retorted.

"I know, so chill."

"But-" The banter started again as the two walked into the room.

"Shall we go?" Antonio asked Matthew and Francis with a weary smile.

"Y-Y-Y-Yeah."

O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O

After the meeting, he took Matthew home so they could start working together on the main part of the church. As they were walking back, Antonio learned a little bit about his apprentice. He was a Canadian, and was in his second year of college for his Bachelor's degree in architecture. He signed up for studying abroad and got here. He has a half-brother in America who's flying in the ranks for football.

As he was talking, doing the best he could with a stutter, Antonio's mind wandered off. The shock had worn off a while ago and now the feelings of happiness had resurfaced. He also thought about what Francis had said. The brunette eondered what Lovino would look like embarrassed. He almost hoped it was as cute as Francis said it was. With his heart beating wildly, he thought of how he was one of the strangest people he has met. He thought about how Lovino, of all people, was going to work with him.

Antonio then thought back to the first few days he was in Italy, and that person that almost got run over by a taxi, now that he thought about it, the man that was almost run over looked like Lovino. Antonio passed it off as a coincidence, but a strange one at that.

Back at the penthouse, in the work room fill with large papers and rolls of other projects he had scanned and sent in to his boss, Antonio started to have a hard time thinking of how to go about the church, he had reference picture of the style Nico was looking for, some French-Italian. He wanted to combine the two to make the church. Looking over at the Canadian who was currently writing down as many ideas as he could.

"Stay here and continue working," The Spain handed the blonde more references, "Get some sketches going. Create a church sketch in just Italian, and one just in French style. Show me when you are done, I should be back by then." The brunette instructed. "And if you need help, text me."

"B-But I-"

"Oh, right! Here's my number. I'll be back soon, don't worry." Antonio said cheerfully writing down his number on the sketch page.

Antonio then walked out of the building to go back to the park.

 _To Be Continued._


End file.
